Pomerol Restaurant Review

: The clean, modern dining room contrasts with the food served at Pomerol, which adheres to many classic parameters of the French fine dining tradition. Old grey concrete floors, dark banquettes, and harsh, bare walls are barely balanced by the warm wood tables and bright red chairs. The blank slate of the ambience is filled with the open kitchen, which does a strong job with starters full of flavor and heft. Cold peach soup is dotted with truffled fresh cheese; a slice of foie gras doused in Vietnamese-style caramel sauce leaks its rich juices into a thick slice of brioche; and local oysters are barely kissed by the live-fire grill before a quick souring in Thai chile vinaigrette. For main dishes, that grill comes back into play with big cuts of meat: beef striploin with hedgehog mushrooms and charred leeks. While the cheese plate seems to have been added as an afterthought, desserts include apple broth wrapping itself around olive oil cake, paired with toasted brioche honey ice cream. The wine list offers elegantly chosen, reasonably priced bottles focused on France and the Pacific Northwest.